Sometimes you have to see to believe

Destiny works in mysterious ways Part 1

Scott had never believed in soulmates. Never believed in the myths and legends of meeting a person the universe deemed perfect for you. Never believed in the faint red string that was supposedly attached to the person in your life that would light it lighter than fire, brighter than the sun. To him they were fables, brought through the generation for a sense of false hope and anticipation.

Jimmy however had always been enamoured by the tales whispered by his parents as they lulled him to a peaceful sleep. He believed in every word, every story and path of love created by those who came before them, ancestors lost to the past. To him it was sentimental to keep the parable going, continuously writing chapter after chapter.

You supposedly acquired the special string at sixteen. Jimmy's birthday was tomorrow. Scott's had already passed.

When Scott turned sixteen, he wasn't surprised by the lack of red. Wasn't upset. Wasn't hurt. He shrugged it of; carried on. His family had looked at him shocked, like he had committed a crime or something more unimaginable. No. He just lacked that red line that sent people on a fabricated chase for a person that most likely didn't exist. The universe didn't provide like that. It was cruel. He knew that all too well.

Jimmy was practically bouncing with joy as the faint crimson wrapped around his wrist like handcuffs, connected to his other hand, or rather, his soulmate's. The happiness radiated off him, reverberated off the walls, lighting the room without the sun glowing through the windows or a lightbulb being switched on.

A soft itch irritated his wrist. He scratched it over again yet to no avail, it's burden remained till he finally opened his eyes. Scott sat, unmoving and pale, like he had seen a ghost. Maybe he had. Technically it was, a vague streak of scarlet ran out of the door, beyond the walls of his home. A soulmate band? The more he thought, the more it became a numb throb in his head, paining him to think about it. During school, he rarely listened to what he deemed as nonsense. Yet he remembered something about both people having to be sixteen. He fell back on his pillows with a violent crash.

It had been nine years. Tiresome. Frustrating. Time didn't seem like a logical concept to him anymore. The long days of searching blurring and becoming clear again. He wanted the day where his soulmate would appear, ending his turmoil and hope. It plagued his thoughts every night. Who they could be. He never labelled their gender, not bothered how they identified, just in them as a person.

Scott had finally come to terms with the prospect of soulmates. He had also accepted the fact that he was gay and happy. He had finally found his feet and made a life for himself, creating content and streaming. He had already met so many amazing people during his time on various platforms and he didn't see himself halting in the near future.

Jimmy couldn't tell you when it first happened. The first vision, flash of another universe. Cyan hair, a wall and a gorgeous flower field. On his finger, a golden band. Nothing fancy but symbolic nonetheless. It was a world he feared as well as loved. Eyes green, yellow and red. Hearts full, cracked and fractured. A system of loss and fixed respawn. Yet he saw the line again and an accent that caught his breath. It was Scottish and like honey. Soft and sweet. It reminded him of someone, yet he could never think of who. 

Until now. 

Scott sat on a lively discord call, setting up a new program. Proximity chat. He and 14 other minecrafter's were about to make history. Playing a new and experimental hardcore world with a twist . The band on his wrist tightened as the conversations buzzed into background noise. The new server would run until only one man remained. Victorious and alone. A notion he liked yet hated. Having to watch other players eliminated or die to you characters hand just to win nothing. Yet a bit of violence in game couldn't hurt, right?

They both dreamed that night. Of the cave and the laughter and the flowers. Of the peace and phantoms. Of each other. The two men woke in a start, the red string prominent and tighter than it had ever been. 

Maybe he had already known his soulmate.

Scott was aching to meet up with Jimmy. Not only because the friendship they had built across a screen had prospered significantly over the years, but he had a suspicion he was that all important soulmate. His thoughts wandered to nine years ago, to his sweet sixteenth. To Jimmy's sixteenth. The dots clicked like a puzzle piece, loud and annoying in his ear, leaving a ring that echoed for a moment. The day he had found the string was the blonde's birthday. He had been foolish to surpass the fact.

The train ride felt like emotional torture. Slow and gently ripping his heart into pieces. Maybe that would do him good, let Scott fit them into place, make it so they sync with his own heartbeat. Station after station rolled by as he looked out of the window, unfocused and waiting. 

The atmosphere was tense. The air fragile, easily broken, cut smoothly with a knife. Jimmy nor Scott wanted to address the problem. 

The didn't have to.

Their strings suddenly tugged them together, dissipating to a green heart on their hands. The two looked at each other. Blue meeting brown. Sky meeting earth. 

Their quest to find a soulmate perfect for them was over.

They smile. Warm and happy. Talk and try to understand each other better. Their inner workings. Their past. Where to go on the endless paths further than this point.

When Jimmy eventually dies to skizz on 3rd life, Scott mourns him, avenges him because he feels this fire spread in his gut. A protective wall of heat and love. 

And when he himself loses? He writes a beautiful and emotional ending to this chapter in their lives. A moving epilogue of hope, reaching for the future. 

He smiles as Jimmy utters the final line into his microphone "Home". 

He didn't cry at the loss of a series he loved doing, relinquished time each week to do, he smiled because it happened, it changed his life for the better. Brought him hope. Brought him a lover. 

He smiles because the word home sum's the man who spoke it up in one meaningful word as a home doesn't have to be a building, it can be a person. 

To Scott, home is Jimmy. Is creating video's. Is streaming.

To Jimmy, home is Scott. Nothing but Scott because the man is warmth and cold and love and war and everything in-between. He's Jimmy's world.

Maybe Scott didn't believe in soulmates. The old tales of true love and fate. As he knew fate was a cruel aspect of life that would never give so generously. Yet now he see's that maybe that isn't exactly true. Why? Well, every bad person, thing, event. It has something positive. A unique attribute that fills the cracks within the cold and bad. Every villain has a story that is overlooked. Maybe fate is the same. Even though it can be unforgiving like the Antarctic, it can see the good in gifting. Maybe the blessing of true love is an outlet for other worldly features to keep the universe balanced, afloat in the sea of uncertainty. Maybe it knows that nothing but sadness and isolation would wilt the world to nothing.

Scott used to think soulmates were a fairy tale in a folktale that creates a delusional sense of hope.

Jimmy had always believed in the idea.

Maybe that's why they were so perfect.

Because Scott's right. Soulmates are a fairy tale. A story of up's and down's, longing and belonging, hope and finally finding that special someone. They are fictions written on illusory pages hidden in the depth of time, the void of space. Between the lines are small hints and nudges towards the pairing at the end of the chapters. Soulmates are the happy ending to stories of varying lengths. Maybe some are short and sweet. Some long and full of hurt and comfort. Some are never finished, passed to another author, at another time, set to stay unfinished, open to interpretation.

Scott and Jimmy found their happy ending.

Will you find yours?

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One of my favourite works from myself. Hope you enjoyed this change in style? Idk but it's different to my ususal.

                           Tj xx